With more gatherings and an increase in people’s movements during the holiday season, people need to stay vigilant, said Takeshi Kasai, WHO regional director for the Western Pacific.
Geneva, DEC 3: Asia-Pacific countries must brace for a new surge in the number of Covid-19 cases due to the Omicron variant, which emerged ahead of the Christmas holidays, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Friday.
With more gatherings and an increase in people’s movements during the holiday season, people need to stay vigilant, said Takeshi Kasai, WHO regional director for the Western Pacific.
Initial data showed that Omicron, first detected in South Africa and recently declared a variant of concern, may be more transmissible than other coronavirus variants, Kasai said.
“Border control can delay the virus coming in and buy time, but every country and every community must prepare for new surges in cases,” he told an online press briefing from the regional headquarters in Manila.
“The positive news in all this is that none of the information we have currently about Omicron suggests we need to change the direction of our response,” he added.
Kasai urged countries to use their experience in dealing with the Delta variant as a guide on “how to cope with future surges in a more sustainable way.”
He stressed the need for countries to vaccinate more people, boost their health care capacities to ensure that hospitals are available for severe cases, and strengthen surveillance to detect cases in preparation for a surge.
People must also continue implementing public health and safety measures such as mask-wearing and physical distancing which are known to be effective in stopping the spread of the virus.
“We can adapt, so that Covid-19 has less impact on our lives in 2022, and we can start to regain – and hopefully retain – a sense of normality,” Kasai said.
